Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Sold by Blair William & Co. IL

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL reduced its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 23.4% during the first quarter, selling 14,954 shares, resulting in holdings worth approximately $3.4 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Bank of Nova Scotia and CenterBook Partners LP, increased their stakes in Novo Nordisk A/S during the fourth quarter, indicating a shift in investor sentiment.
• Novo Nordisk A/S reported earnings per share of $0.97 for the last quarter, which surpassed estimates, although concerns were raised about declining stock ratings from multiple analysts including HSBC and Guggenheim.

Blair William & Co. IL lowered its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Free Report) by 23.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,019 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,954 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $3,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2,727.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 311 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 184.8% in the first quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 393 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Novo Nordisk A/S stock traded up $2.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $51.06. The company had a trading volume of 23,312,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,928,642. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12-month low of $45.05 and a 12-month high of $139.74. The company has a market capitalization of $227.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.63. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $67.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.60.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 78.64% and a net margin of 35.60%. The business had revenue of $11.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.51 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.4119 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 240.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Novo Nordisk A/S's dividend payout ratio is 45.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. HSBC lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $57.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.67.

Novo Nordisk A/S Profile

Novo Nordisk A/S, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research and development, manufacture, and distribution of pharmaceutical products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, North America, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Diabetes and Obesity Care, and Rare Disease.